The Queen's Beasts Collection brings age-old symbols of ancestry, power and heraldry to life as magnificent creatures on prestigious coins. Royal Mint coin designer Jody Clark has reimagined the ten beasts that stood guard at the coronation of Her Majesty The Queen in 1953. Each royal protector representing a strand of her heritage, an ancestor watching over this young woman as she made a solemn vow to the nation.

This coin features the White Lion of Mortimer and is the second lion to appear in the Queen’s Beasts series. Unlike the fierce, rampant Lion of England, the White Lion represents loyalty and discipline and sits in a less aggressive position.

The White Lion came to Her Majesty through her Yorkist heritage. First used by Roger Mortimer, Earl of March (1328–60), a founder Knight of the Order of the Garter, it passed to the House of York and was used by both Richard II and Edward IV.

The Lion holds a shield bearing the white rose of York combined with the sun’s golden rays – the sun badge was important to Edward IV, who saw the sun as a portent of good luck in battle. Jody Clark, designer of the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that appears on the obverse of this one-ounce gold coin, has portrayed the White Lion of Mortimer side-on, accentuating the most important parts of the Lion’s story – its mane, tail and shield.

This bullion coin from The Queen’s Beasts Collection is also available as a quarter-ounce gold edition and a silver two-ounce coin.